Incentivizing and/or penalizing vehicle renters based on telematics data

ABSTRACT

In a method for applying penalties or incentives to a driver of a rented vehicle, an indication that the driver has agreed to terms for renting the vehicle from the vehicle owner is received, with the terms including the potential application of penalties or incentives to the driver based on driving behavior. Telematics data, indicative of operation of the rented vehicle by the driver during a period of time, is received. By analyzing the telematics data, one or more driving behaviors of the driver during the time period is/are identified. For each driving behavior, a corresponding state of an environment of the rented vehicle when the driving behavior occurred is determined. One or more penalties or incentives are caused to be applied to the driver, based on the driving behavior(s) and the corresponding state(s) of the environment of the rented vehicle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 16/266,879, filed on Feb. 4, 2019, theentire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to vehicle telematics and, morespecifically, to systems and methods for applying one or more penaltiesand/or incentives to a driver of a rented vehicle based on telematicsdata.

BACKGROUND

Current technologies make use of vehicle telematics data to assessdriving behavior. For example, the telematics data may be collected andanalyzed to determine the acceleration, braking and/or cornering habitsof a driver of a vehicle, and the results of the analysis may be used tomeasure the performance of the driver over time. The telematics data maybe generated by sensors on the vehicle, or by a personal electronicdevice (e.g., smart phone) carried by the driver, for example. Themeasured performance may then be used for various purposes, such asmodifying an insurance rating of the driver. More recently, it has beenproposed that telematics data also be used in connection with car rentalservices, including peer-to-peer car rentals, to score potential renters(e.g., so that vehicle owners may avoid renting their vehicles tocertain types of drivers).

Typically, car rental services utilize terms of a rental agreement toconstrain renter use of the rented vehicle. However, such terms are notable to constrain or limit many driving behaviors of a renter while therenter is operating a vehicle. This may occur because car rentalservices are not able to detect such driving behaviors, and as a resultthe car rental services cannot incorporate such driving behaviors into arental agreement. Thus, car rental services may rely on the vehicleowner trusting the renter to not misuse the rented vehicle. However,vehicle owners may hesitate to trust renters they do not personallyknow. Unconstrained use of the rented vehicle on the part of the rentermay result in increased maintenance and the associated costs and timefor the vehicle owner. For example, frequent hard braking by renters mayrequire that the owner replace the brake pads and rotors more often.This is especially problematic for vehicle owners in peer-to-peervehicle rental services. For these vehicle owners, the rented vehiclemay be their primary vehicle, and associated costs and times ofmaintenance may be unmanageable.

For these reasons, there is a need for systems and methods that mitigatethe problems of vehicle owner hesitation with respect to renting avehicle and facilitate the rental of more vehicles for the vehiclerenters with less risk to the vehicle owners.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present embodiments may, inter alia, utilize telematics dataindicative of operation of a rented vehicle by the driver/renter duringa period of time to apply one or more penalties and/or incentives to thedriver, as agreed upon in the terms for renting the vehicle from theowner. In this way, the embodiments may establish trust between theowner of the vehicle and renter (or at least, provide the owner with acertain comfort level even if the renter cannot be fully trusted) bydetecting and incentivizing or penalizing driving behaviors.

In one aspect, a method of incentivizing and/or penalizing vehiclerenters may include receiving, at one or more processors, an indicationthat a driver has agreed to terms for renting a vehicle from an owner ofthe vehicle. The terms may include potential application of penalties orincentives to the driver based on driving behavior. The method may alsoinclude receiving, at the one or more processors, telematics datacollected over a period of time. The telematics data may be indicativeof operation of the rented vehicle by the driver during the period oftime. The method may also include identifying, by the one or moreprocessors analyzing the telematics data, one or more driving behaviorsof the driver during the period of time. The method may also includedetermining, by the one or more processors, and for each drivingbehavior of the one or more driving behaviors, a corresponding state ofan environment of the rented vehicle when the driving behavior occurred.The method may also include causing, by the one or more processors, oneor more penalties or incentives to be applied to the driver, based onthe one or more driving behaviors and the corresponding states of theenvironment of the rented vehicle.

In another aspect, a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable mediummay store instructions that, when executed by one or more processors,cause the one or more processors to receive an indication that a driverhas agreed to terms for renting a vehicle from an owner of the vehicle.The terms may include potential application of penalties or incentivesto the driver based on driving behavior. The instructions may also causethe one or more processors to receive telematics data collected over aperiod of time. The telematics data may be indicative of operation ofthe rented vehicle by the driver during the period of time. Theinstructions may also cause the or more processors to identify one ormore driving behaviors of the driver during the period of time. Theinstructions may also cause the one or more processors to determine foreach driving behavior of the one or more driving behaviors, acorresponding state of an environment of the rented vehicle when thedriving behavior occurred. The instructions may also cause the one ormore processors to cause one or more penalties or incentives to beapplied to the driver, based on the one or more driving behaviors andthe corresponding states of the environment of the rented vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures described below depict various aspects of the systems andmethods disclosed herein. It should be understood that each figuredepicts an embodiment of a particular aspect of the disclosed systemsand methods, and that each of the figures is intended to accord with onepossible embodiment thereof.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary environment in which penalties and/orincentives may be applied to a renter based on telematics data.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary process by which one or more penaltiesand/or incentives may be applied.

FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary user interface by which a vehicle ownermay establish vehicle rental terms.

FIG. 3B illustrates an exemplary user interface at which a vehicle ownermay be notified that one or more penalties and/or incentives have beenapplied.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary method of which may cause one or morepenalties and/or incentives to be applied.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present invention relate to vehicle rental platformswherein telematics data indicative of operation of the rented vehicle bya driver/renter may be used to apply one or more penalties and/orincentives to the driver, e.g., as agreed upon in the rental terms. Thevehicle rental platform may be a peer-to-peer vehicle rental platform.

A vehicle owner may establish terms for renting a vehicle, e.g., via auser interface of the vehicle rental platform. A potential renter of theowner's vehicle may have access to such terms before agreeing to rentthe owner's vehicle. A potential vehicle renter may be required to agreeto the established terms before renting the owner's vehicle. If a renterhas agreed to the terms for renting the owner's vehicle, the vehicleowner may receive an indication that the renter has agreed to the terms.The indication may include the terms themselves.

At some point after the vehicle renter and vehicle owner have agreed tothe terms, a telematics data collection device, at the vehicle, maycollect telematics data. Telematics data may only be collected, storedand/or used if the individual (i.e., renter or owner) has authorizedsuch collection/storage/use. Authorization may occur, for example, uponthe renter and the owner signing up to the vehicle rental platform. Thetelematics data collection device may include one or more components ofa sensor/telematics system within the rented vehicle and/or may includea personal electronic device (e.g., a smart phone) of the renter. Thetelematics data collection device may also include sensors and/orsubsystems that generate the telematics data itself, or may simplycollect the telematics data after another device or devices has/havegenerated the telematics data. The telematics data may include anysensed or monitored data that indicates the operation of the rentedvehicle by the driver. The telematics data collection device may collectdata over a period of time during which the renter is operating therented vehicle. The period of time may be the duration of a trip of therented vehicle or a duration of a rental period of the rented vehicle,for example.

A remote server (i.e., remote from the telematics data collectiondevice) may identify one or more driving behaviors occurring during theperiod of time, with the driving behavior(s) being determined from thetelematics data. The driving behavior(s) may be associated with turningbehavior, braking behavior, and/or accelerating behavior, for example.Identifying the driving behavior(s) may include identifying one or morevalues associated with the driving behavior(s), such as valuesassociated with acceleration, speed, and/or lateral force. The value(s)may be telematics data values (e.g., sensor readings, operationalparameters of the vehicle such as speed, etc.) or normalized or averagedtelematics data values, for example. The one or more values may bevalues calculated using telematics data (e.g., a weighted sum ofmultiple telematics data values). As the term is used herein, a “drivingbehavior” may be a behavior that occurs during a particular moment intime (e.g., a single hard braking event), or a behavior that occurs overa longer duration of time (e.g., an average number of hard brakingevents per hour).

Each driving behavior may correspond to a state of the environment(e.g., visibility conditions, weather conditions, traffic conditions,and/or road conditions). The remote server may determine thecorresponding state of the environment based on telematics data, such assensor data associated with the rented vehicle. The remote server mayalso determine the corresponding state of the environment fromenvironmental data, such as third party data. The remote server maydetermine the state of the environment corresponding to a drivingbehavior by identifying a portion of the environmental datacorresponding to the time of the driving behavior, a portion of theenvironmental data corresponding to the location where the drivingbehavior occurred, and/or a portion of the environmental datacorresponding to the time and the location of the driving behavior.

Based on the driving behavior and the corresponding state of theenvironment, the remote server may apply one or more penalties and/orincentives to the renter operating the rented vehicle. These penaltiesand/or incentives may be in accordance with the agreed upon termsbetween the vehicle renter and the vehicle owner. The remote server mayapply the one or more penalties and/or incentives immediately after adriving behavior occurs, or at a later time. The remote server may applythe one or more penalties and/or incentives in response to a singleinstance of a driving behavior, or in response to multiple instances ofa driving behavior or multiple instances of different driving behaviors.Causing an incentive and/or penalty to be applied to the driver mayinclude comparing the one or more values associated with the drivingbehavior(s) (as discussed above) to one or more threshold values. Forexample, a penalty may be applied if the one or more values fall outsidea threshold value, and/or an incentive may be applied if the one or morevalues stay within a threshold value.

Threshold values may vary based on the state of the environment. Forexample, a threshold value for ‘negative acceleration’ may be lower inrainy weather than in clear weather, or a threshold value for ‘negativeacceleration’ may be lower in snowy weather than in rainy weather, etc.Threshold values may also vary based on characteristics of a renteroperating the rental vehicle. For example, a threshold value for‘g-force’ may be lower for a young driver than for an middle-ageddriver. The threshold values may be associated with one of acceleration,speed, or lateral force of the rental vehicle during operation by therenter, for example.

If a penalty and/or an incentive has been applied, the remote server maytransmit an electronic message to the owner of the rented vehiclenotifying the owner that a penalty and/or incentive has been applied tothe renter operating the rented vehicle. The remote server may transmitthe notification to the owner immediately after the penalty and/orincentive has been applied. The remote server may instead transmit thenotification at the end of the rental period by the renter, or at thenext instance of a regular interval of time during the rental period. Inother embodiments, the notification may be transmitted at any othersuitable time.

If a penalty and/or an incentive has been applied, the remote server maytransmit an electronic message to the renter of the rented vehiclenotifying the renter that a penalty and/or incentive has been applied tothe renter. The remote server may transmit the notification to therenter immediately after the penalty and/or incentive has been applied,at the end of the rental period by the renter, or at the next instanceof a regular interval of time during the rental period. Alternatively,the remote server may transmit the notification when the rented vehicleis known to be stopped, such as when the vehicle is at a traffic lightor the rented vehicle is parked. The vehicle may be determined to bestopped using telematics data (e.g., time stamped data from a GPS unitof the renter's mobile device or the vehicle, or data from an inertialmeasurement unit of the renter's mobile device or the vehicle). In otherembodiments, the notification may be applied at any suitable other time.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary environment 100 in which penalties and/orincentives may be applied to a renter based on telematics data. Asillustrated in FIG. 1 , the environment 100 includes a vehicle 114. Thevehicle 114 may include a data collection device (not shown in FIG. 1 )that collects various types of telematics data. The vehicle 114 may alsoinclude multiple sensors (not shown in FIG. 1 ) that collect varioustypes of telematics data. The vehicle 114 may also carry a renter mobiledevice 120 and the renter mobile device 120 may collect various types oftelematics data.

The telematics data collected at the vehicle 114 may include any datathat may be sensed or monitored, and may be used to calculate orotherwise infer driving behaviors of the renter. For example, the datamay include any one or more of velocity information, accelerationinformation, braking information, steering information,location/position information (e.g., collected by a vehicular globalpositioning system (GPS) device), translational and/or rotationalg-force information (e.g., collected by a gyroscope device), on-boarddiagnostic information, information collected by a camera, video camera,LiDAR, radar or other device sensing an environment external to thevehicle (e.g., sensing proximity to other vehicles or other objects,orientation with respect to other vehicles or other objects, etc.),automated safety and/or control system information (e.g., adaptivecruise control status and/or when cruise control is engaged/disengaged,forward and/or rear collision warning system outputs, lane departuresystem outputs, electronic stability control system status, etc.), andso on. In some implementations, however, the vehicle telematics dataincludes at least acceleration and location data for the vehicle 114.

The vehicle 114, and/or the renter mobile device 120, may send collectedtelematics data to a server 102 via a communication link. Additionallyor alternatively, the renter mobile device 120 may send collectedtelematics data to the server 102 via a communication link. For example,the vehicle 114 may send collected telematics data over a firstcommunication link and the renter mobile device 120 may send collectedtelematics data over a second communication link. Additionally, thevehicle 114 and/or the renter mobile device 120 may send collectedtelematics data to server 102 via one or more transmissions. Forexample, telematics data telematics data may be collected at vehicle 114and/or renter mobile device 120 over the course of a rented vehicle tripand sent to the server 102 in a single transmission. Alternatively,telematics data may be collected at vehicle 114 and/or renter mobiledevice 120 at regular intervals and sent to the server 102 in multipletransmissions (e.g., after each regular interval).

The transmissions may be sent to server 102 via a wireless transmitteror transceiver that is coupled to the vehicle 114. Alternatively, thevehicle 114 may be equipped with a Bluetooth system that provides thetelematics data to a smart phone or other portable communication deviceof the driver or a passenger, such as renter mobile device 120, and thesmart phone or other portable communication device may transmit the datato the server 102 via a wireless (e.g., cellular) network. In otherimplementations, the vehicle 114 may include an interface to a portablememory device, such as a portable hard drive or flash memory device. Insome of these implementations, the portable memory device may be used todownload data from the data collection device and then manually carriedto the server 102. In still other implementations, the portable memorydevice may be used to download telematics data from the data collectiondevice to a driver's or passenger's computer device (e.g., a desktopcomputer, laptop computer, smartphone, etc.), which may in turn be usedto transmit the telematics data to the server 102 via one or more wiredand/or wireless networks.

The server 102 may include a processor 104, a memory 106, acommunication interface 108, a telematics data analysis unit 110, and apenalty/incentive application unit 112, each of which will be describedin more detail below. The processor 104 may include one or moreprocessors (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU)) adapted andconfigured to execute various software applications and components ofthe server 102. The memory 106 may include one or more memories of oneor more types (e.g., a solid state memory, a hard drive, etc.), and mayinclude data storage containing a plurality of software applications,data used and/or output by such software applications, and/or aplurality of software routines, for example.

The communication interface 108 may include hardware (e.g., one or morephysical ports, one or more network interface cards, one or morehardware or firmware processors, etc.) and/or software (e.g., softwareexecuted by the processor 104 or one or more other processors of theserver 102) configured to enable server 102 to receive transmissions ofdata collected by different data collection devices and mobile devices(e.g., associated with different vehicles similar to the vehicle 114).If the data transmissions are made via the Internet, for example, thecommunication interface 108 may include an Ethernet port. Telematicsdata may be received at the communication interface 108 from the vehicle114, the renter mobile device 120, or any other device located withinthe vehicle 114.

Generally, the telematics data analysis unit 110 may analyze thereceived telematics data. Telematics data analysis unit 110 may onlyreceive and analyze telematics data corresponding to a rental durationof the rented vehicle by the renter, for example. Alternatively, thetelematics data unit 110 may filter received telematics data to excludeany telematics data that does not correspond to the rental duration. Byanalyzing the telematics data, the telematics data analysis unit 110 maydetermine one or more driving behaviors of the renter during the periodof time, and may determine a time and/or a location associated with eachsuch driving behavior.

The telematics data analysis unit 110 may also determine a correspondingstate of the environment for one or more of the driving behaviors, usingtelematics data of the vehicle 114. For example, temperature sensors mayindicate the temperature in the environment. Tire rotation sensors mayindicate the state of the roads (e.g., abrupt changes in the rate oftire spinning may indicate slippery roads). Additionally oralternatively, telematics data analysis unit 110 may determine thecorresponding state(s) of the environment by analyzing data receivedfrom the environment data server 116. The environment data server 116may store or otherwise provide access to environmental information, andmay include only a single server or multiple servers. The environmentdata server 116 may be owned and operated by a third party, for example.The telematics data analysis unit 110 may determine a correspondingstate of the environment for one or more driving behaviors by matchingthe time(s) and/or location(s) associated with the driving behavior(s)to the time(s) and/or locations, respectively, associated with theenvironmental data.

Based on the driving behavior(s) and the corresponding state(s) of theenvironment, the penalty/incentive application unit, 112 may apply oneor more penalties and/or incentives to the driver of the rented vehicle114. The penalty/incentive application unit 112 may compare valuesassociated with the driving behavior(s) to threshold values. Thethreshold values may have been set by the owner of the vehicle 114, andpreviously agreed upon by both the owner and the renter as the terms ofthe rental. The owner may have initially set the threshold values viathe owner mobile device 122, for example (e.g., when executing apeer-to-peer vehicle sharing application), or via any other deviceassociated with the owner. A penalty or incentive may be applied if thevalues associated with the driving behavior fall within or exceed thethreshold values. The penalty and/or incentive may be applied to anaccount of the renter associated with or linked to the vehicle rentalplatform, for example.

In some embodiments, the penalty/incentive application unit 112 does notapply a particular penalty in certain situations, depending on the stateof the environment corresponding to a particular driving behavior or setof driving behaviors. For example, certain driving behaviors (e.g., hardbraking) may be acceptable to avoid hitting a car that stops abruptlyjust ahead (e.g., as detected by a proximity sensor of the vehicle 114),but not acceptable in most other states of the environment. In someembodiments, the threshold values can change based on the correspondingstate(s) of the environment. For example, a threshold value for“negative acceleration” may be lower in rainy weather than in clearweather, and lower in snowy weather than in rainy weather.

The penalty/incentive application unit 112 may optionally utilize adriving score to determine if a penalty and/or incentive should beapplied. Such driving scores may be calculated and stored by a drivingscore server 118, and the server 102 may access the driving scores bycommunicating with the driving score server 118 (e.g., via a long-rangecommunication network such as the Internet). In other embodiments, thepenalty/incentive application unit 112 (or another component of theserver 102 may calculate a driving score, and the server 102 may storethe score in memory 106 or another memory. In still other embodiments,the penalty/incentive application unit 112 calculates a driving scorebut the driving score server 118 stores the driving score. In such anembodiment, the server 102 may transmit the driving score to the drivingscore server 118 to be stored.

The driving score may be calculated based on the driving behavior(s),and possibly also the corresponding state(s) of the environment. Forexample, an instance of hard braking may result in a lower driving scoreif the instance of hard braking occurred in wet or icy conditions asopposed to dry conditions, and/or an instance of speeding may result ina lower driving score if the instance of speeding occurred in heavytraffic as opposed to no traffic. In some embodiments where the drivingscore itself accounts for states of the environment, penalty/incentiveapplication unit 112 need not modify any of its thresholds (discussedabove) based on the states of the environment.

The penalty/incentive application unit 112 may optionally notify theowner of the vehicle 114 that a penalty or an incentive has been appliedto the renter of the vehicle 114. The server 102 may send thisnotification to the owner mobile device 122, for example. The server 102and more specifically the communication interface 108 may transmit thenotification to the owner mobile device 122 immediately after thepenalty and/or incentive has been applied, at the end of the rentalperiod by the renter, or at the next instance of a regular interval oftime during the rental period, for example. In other embodiments, theserver 102 may send the notification at any suitable other time.

The penalty/incentive application unit 112 may also, or instead, notifythe driver of the vehicle 114 that a penalty or an incentive has beenapplied to the renter. The server 102 may send this notification to theowner mobile device 120, for example. The server 102 and morespecifically the communication interface 108 may transmit thenotification to the renter mobile device 120 immediately after thepenalty and/or incentive has been applied, at the end of the rentalperiod by the renter, or at the next instance of a regular interval oftime during the rental period, for example (e.g., with the same timingas notifications to the vehicle owner). Alternatively, the server 102may transmit the notification to the driver when the rented vehicle 114is known to be stopped, such as when the vehicle 114 is at a trafficlight or parked. The server 102 may determine that the vehicle 114 isstopped using telematics data (e.g., time stamped data from a GPS unitof the renter mobile device 120 or the vehicle 114, or data from aninertial measurement unit of the renter mobile device 120 or the vehicle114). In other embodiments, the server 102 may send the notification atany suitable other time.

Operation of the components of the environment 100 will now be describedin connection with FIGS. 2 through 4 , according to variousimplementations and scenarios. Referring first to FIG. 2 , an exemplaryprocess 200 process is shown in which one or more penalties and/orincentives may be applied. The process 200 may take place, for example,at the server 102. The process 200 includes three driving behaviors:“Behavior A” 202, “Behavior B” 204, and “Behavior C” 206. In otherembodiments, however, more or fewer driving behaviors may be included.The server 102 may determine each of Behavior A 202, Behavior B 204, andBehavior C 206 from telematics data 201 collected from the rentedvehicle, such as for example rented vehicle 114. More specifically, thetelematics data analysis unit 110 may determine each of Behavior A 202,Behavior B 204, and Behavior C 206.

Each of Behavior A 202, Behavior B 204, and Behavior C 206 includesrespective turning data, braking data, and accelerating data.Specifically, Behavior A 202 includes turning data 202.1, braking data202.2, and accelerating data 202.3, Behavior B 204 includes turning data204.1, braking data 204.2, and accelerating data 204.3, and Behavior C206 includes turning data 206.1, braking data 206.2, and acceleratingdata 206.3. In other embodiments, Behavior A 202, Behavior B 204, andBehavior C 206 each comprise fewer or more types of data (e.g., turningdata only, etc.). For example, Behavior A 202 may be a single hardcornering event including an element of hard turning, which may bedetermined from the turning data 202.1, combined with sudden braking,which may be determined from the braking data 202.2, and followed byrapid acceleration, which may be determined from the acceleration data202.3 (e.g., a vehicle cornering a turn may brake heavily and turnheavily only to accelerate heavily again). Additionally or alternately,Behavior B 204 may be a behavior inferred from multiple instances ofhard cornering within a single renter trip (e.g., an average of aparticular metric determined for each such instance), with each instanceof hard cornering including hard turning as determined from the turningdata 204.1.

Each of Behavior A 202, Behavior B 204, and Behavior C 206 may beassociated with a corresponding state of the environment. For exampleBehavior A 202, may be associated with a corresponding state of theenvironment 203, Behavior B 204, may be associated with a correspondingstate of the environment 205, and Behavior C 206, may be associated witha corresponding state of the environment 207.

In the example process 200, each corresponding state of the environmentincludes components of visibility conditions, weather conditions,traffic conditions, and road conditions. In other embodiments, more,fewer and/or different components may be included. Referring to FIG. 2 ,corresponding state of the environment 203 includes visibilityconditions 203.1, weather conditions 203.2, traffic conditions 203.3,and road conditions 203.4, corresponding state of the environment 205includes visibility conditions 205.1, weather conditions 205.2, trafficconditions 205.3, and road conditions 205.4, and corresponding state ofthe environment 207 includes visibility conditions 207.1, weatherconditions 207.2, traffic conditions 207.3, and road conditions 207.4.For example, visibility conditions 203.1 and weather conditions 203.2may indicate that the weather was clear with good visibility whenBehavior A 202 occurred, but traffic conditions 205.3 may indicate thatBehavior A, 202, occurred in heavy traffic. As another example,visibility conditions 203.1, weather conditions 203.2 and roadconditions 205.4 may indicate that Behavior B, 204, occurred in rainyweather where the visibility was low and the roads were slick, buttraffic conditions 205.3 may indicate there was minimal traffic.

Behavior A 202 combined with the corresponding state of the environment203, Behavior B 204 combined with the corresponding state of theenvironment 205, and Behavior C 206 combined with the correspondingstate of the environment 207 may result in a penalty/incentiveapplication 208. The penalty/incentive application 208 may occur basedon any number of Behavior A 202, Behavior B 204, and Behavior C 206. Forexample, the penalty/incentive application 208 may occur in response toBehavior A 202 and the corresponding state of the environment 203 only.As another example, the penalty/incentive application 208 may occur atthe end of a renter trip in response to Behavior B 204 combined with thecorresponding state of the environment 205 and Behavior C 206 combinedwith the corresponding state of the environment 207 (e.g., in responseto multiple instance of gradual acceleration and gradual and slowturning an incentive may be applied).

The penalty/incentive application 208 may include applying a penalty oran incentive in response to a value associated with a behavior fallingwithin or outside threshold values. For example, a ‘g-force’ valueassociated with Behavior A 202, may fall outside the threshold foracceptable ‘g-force’ values as determined by the penalty/incentiveapplication 208 and as a result the penalty/incentive application 208may apply a penalty. The ‘g-force’ value associated with Behavior A 202,may be determined from the turning data 202.1, for example. Thresholdvalues may vary based on the corresponding state of the environment. Forexample, the threshold value for a ‘g-force’ value may be lower if thecorresponding state of the environment 203 associated with Behavior A202 is known to be rainy based on the weather conditions 203.2.

FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary user interface 300 by which a vehicleowner may establish vehicle rental terms. The exemplary user interface300 may be presented via an owner's mobile device such as owner mobiledevice 122 or any other device of the vehicle owner. The vehicle ownermay establish vehicle rental terms by modifying driving behaviorsettings 302. The vehicle owner may establish vehicle rental terms atany time. The driving behavior settings 302 may include settings of aturning behavior control 304, settings of a braking behavior control306, and settings of an accelerating behavior control 308. The drivingbehavior settings 302 may include settings of fewer, more and/ordifferent controls than those shown in FIG. 3A. The vehicle owner mayuse the driving behavior settings 302 to establish vehicle rental terms.For example, the vehicle owner may establish acceptable turning behaviorby modifying the turning behavior control 304. Acceptable turningbehavior may be constrained, for example, by acceptable g-force on thevehicle. Driving behavior settings 302 may be translated to thresholdvalues by server 102, for example. An owner of the rented vehicle mayset specific penalties and or incentives at the driving behaviorsettings 302 and more specifically at the turning behavior control 304,braking behavior control 306, and accelerating behavior control 308options. For example, a vehicle owner whose vehicle has a delicatesteering system may opt to set stricter penalties with the turningbehavior control 304 than with other behavior controls (e.g., a vehicleowner may set a monetary fine of twenty-five dollars per instance ofunacceptable turning behavior).

Exemplary user interface 300 may also provide other settings 310 that anowner of the rented vehicle may modify. In the embodiment shown, thesettings 310 include settings of a geolocation preferences control 312and a vehicle use preferences control 314. For example, using thegeolocation preferences control 312, a vehicle owner may set ageolocation boundary on where the rented vehicle may be driven (e.g., avehicle owner in the suburbs of a large city may wish to set ageolocation preference such that the rented vehicle stays in the suburbsand is not driven into the city). Using the vehicle use preferencescontrol 314, an owner of the rented vehicle may set preferences moregenerally as to how a vehicle may be used (e.g., with respect to actionsother than driving behaviors or location). For example, an owner may setpreferences regarding the presence of children and/or pets in thevehicle, and/or whether the vehicle may be used for purposes such asmoving heavy items (e.g., furniture or yard items). Such activity may bedetected by the rented vehicle, for example vehicle 114, using a weightsensor at the seats or hatchback, a microphone, a camera, and/or anyother suitable type of sensor(s). A renter of the rented vehicle may bepenalized or incentivized based on the settings of the turning behaviorcontrol 304, braking behavior control 306, accelerating behavior control308, geolocation preferences control 312 and/or vehicle use preferencescontrol 314, in combination with the corresponding portions of thetelematics data.

The vehicle owner may also be able to modify or input informationassociated with the owner's account via an account settings control 316.The owner may make these modifications using a vehicle informationcontrol 318 and/or an account information control 320, for example.

Once the penalty and/or incentive has been applied, the server 102 maynotify the renter and/or owner of the vehicle that the penalty has beenapplied. FIG. 3B illustrates an exemplary user interface 350 via which avehicle owner may receive a notification 252 indicating that one or morepenalties and/or incentives have been applied. The server 102 and morespecifically the communication interface 108 may send notification 352as soon as the penalty is applied, or at any other time. Thenotification 352 may include the reason why a penalty or incentive wasapplied (as depicted in FIG. 3B) or may not include such information.

The server 102 and more specifically the communication interface 108 maysend a notification the same as or similar to notification 252 to therenter of the rented vehicle. The notification may optionally allow therenter to access more information about the penalty. The server 102 maysend the notification to the renter immediately, or only when the rentedvehicle is known to be stopped. The notification may be sent when therented vehicle is known to be turned off, for example. Additionally, anotification that a penalty is about to be applied may be sent to therenter. For example, if the renter has agreed to a “three strike” systemfor a penalty, a notification that the renter has incurred the second“strike” may be delivered to the renter.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method 400 of incentivizingand/or penalizing a vehicle renter. In one embodiment, the method 400may be implemented by the processor 104 of the server 102. As usedherein, the term “server” may refer to a single computing device at asingle location, or to a number of computing devices (e.g., distributedacross a number of different locations).

In the method 400, an indication that a driver has agreed to terms forrenting a vehicle from an owner of the vehicle may be received (block402). The terms may include potential application of penalties orincentives to the driver based on driving behavior. The terms may be setby the owner of the rented vehicle, via a user interface accessed by theowner. For example, the owner may set the terms via the user interface300 of FIG. 3A. The terms may specify preferences relating to one ormore particular driving behaviors. The terms may specify certaininstances in which driving behavior(s) is/are allowed or not allowed.The terms may further specify other vehicle owner preferences, such asgeolocation preferences, and/or vehicle use preferences other thandriving behaviors. Terms may vary based on a profile of a vehiclerenter, and/or based on the rented vehicle.

The driver may accept the terms explicitly or implicitly. In someembodiments, the driver accepts the terms via a user interface similarto that shown in FIG. 3A. The terms may be transmitted to a severimplementing the method 400, such as server 102. The terms may be storedin the memory of the server (e.g., memory 106), and may be used by asoftware unit (e.g., the penalty/incentive application unit 112) todetermine if a penalty and/or incentive should be applied.

Telematics data collected over a period of time may be received (block404). The telematics data is indicative of the operation of the rentedvehicle by the driver during the period of time. The data collectiondevice may be similar to any of the different implementations discussedabove (e.g., including one or multiple components, etc.). In someembodiments and/or scenarios, the vehicle telematics data includes aplurality of subsets of vehicle telematics data, with each subsetcorresponding to a different trip. The vehicle telematics data may bereceived by any suitable technique(s), such as any of the techniques forobtaining vehicle telematics data described above in connection withFIG. 1 (e.g., transferring to/from a portable memory, using wired and/orwireless communications, etc.), for example. The vehicle telematics datamay include any data from which driving behaviors and/or features of thedriving environment may be inferred or calculated. For example, thevehicle telematics data may include acceleration data, braking data,cornering data, g-force data, visual data, location data, etc., and mayinclude data that was generated by an accelerometer, gyroscope, GPSdevice, camera, lidar, and/or one or more other units or sensor types.

The period of time may be the full duration of time during which therenter has rented the rented vehicle, the duration of a single trip bythe renter in the rented vehicle, or any other duration of time. Thetelematics data may be received at the server implementing the method400 (e.g., at server 102). The telematics data may be stored at thememory 106 and processed by the processor 104 (e.g., when executinginstructions of the telematics data analysis unit 110), for example.

One or more driving behaviors of the driver during the period of timemay be identified by analyzing the telematics data (block 406). The oneor more driving behaviors may be identified by the server (e.g., by thetelematics data analysis unit 110). The one of more driving behaviorsmay each correspond to certain portions of the telematics data, and maytake place at a certain point in time (e.g., discrete driving events) orover a longer duration of time (e.g., average or maximum speeds,g-forces, etc., over a longer time period).

For each driving behavior of the one or more driving behaviors, acorresponding state of an environment of the rented vehicle when thedriving behavior occurred may be determined (block 408). Thecorresponding state of the environment may be determined from thetelematics data, and/or based on environment data received from a thirdparty server. The corresponding state of the environment may includeroad conditions, weather conditions, visibility conditions, trafficconditions, maneuvers of nearby vehicles, the presence or actions ofnearby pedestrians, and/or other events or conditions.

One or more penalties or incentives may be applied (block 410). Theapplication of the one or more penalties or incentives may be based onthe one or more driving behaviors and the corresponding states of theenvironment of the rented vehicle. For example, the one or more drivingbehaviors may trigger a penalty when corresponding to one state of theenvironment but not when corresponding to another state of theenvironment. The renter of the vehicle and/or the owner of the vehiclemay optionally be notified that a penalty has been applied (e.g., viathe user interface of FIG. 3B).

The following additional considerations apply to the foregoingdiscussion. Throughout this specification, plural instances mayimplement operations or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. These and othervariations, modifications, additions, and improvements fall within thescope of the subject matter herein.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example,a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true(or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or notpresent) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (orpresent).

In addition, use of “a” or “an” is employed to describe elements andcomponents of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the invention. Thisdescription should be read to include one or at least one and thesingular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meantotherwise.

Upon reading this disclosure, those of skill in the art will appreciatestill additional alternative structural and functional designs for asystem and method for applying a penalty or an incentive to a driver ofa rented vehicle based on telematics data. Thus, while particularembodiments and applications have been illustrated and described, it isto be understood that the disclosed embodiments are not limited to theprecise construction and components disclosed herein. Variousmodifications, changes and variations, which will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, may be made in the arrangement, operation anddetails of the method and apparatus disclosed herein without departingfrom the spirit and scope defined in the appended claims.

The patent claims at the end of this patent application are not intendedto be construed under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless traditionalmeans-plus-function language is expressly recited, such as “means for”or “step for” language being explicitly recited in the claim(s).

What is claimed:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:establishing a first communication link between one or more processorsand a mobile device disposed within a vehicle; receiving, at the one ormore processors and via the first communication link, first telematicsdata collected over a period of time, wherein the first telematics datais indicative of operation of the vehicle by a driver during the periodof time; establishing a second communication link, separate from thefirst communication link, between the one or more processors and aprocessor of the vehicle; receiving, at the one or more processors andvia the second communication link, second telematics data, captured by asensor of a data collection device, separate from the mobile device andassociated with the vehicle, during the period of time; determining, bythe one or more processors and based on a first subset of the firsttelematics data and the second telematics data, a first driving behaviorof the driver, wherein the first driving behavior occurs during a firstlength of time; determining, by the one or more processors and based ona second subset of the first telematics data and the second telematicsdata, a second driving behavior of the driver, wherein the seconddriving behavior occurs during a second length of time greater than thefirst length of time; determining, by the one or more processors, firstenvironmental conditions existing while the first driving behavior wasexhibited by the driver; determining, by the one or more processors, andbased at least in part on the first environmental conditions, one ormore threshold values corresponding to the first telematics data and thesecond telematics data; and causing, by the one or more processors, oneor more penalties or incentives to be applied to an account of thedriver, based on a comparison between values associated with the firstand the second driving behaviors, and the one or more threshold values.2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:determining, by the one or more processors, and based on the firstsubset of the telematics data, a time and location associated with thefirst driving behavior; and accessing, by the one or more processors,and based on the time and location, the first environmental conditionsfrom a third-party server.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim1, wherein the first environmental conditions comprise one or more of:visibility conditions, weather conditions, traffic conditions, or roadconditions.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein thefirst environmental conditions are determined based on the first subsetof the first telematics data and the second telematics data, and includeat least one of: a vehicle disposed proximate the vehicle, or apedestrian disposed proximate the vehicle.
 5. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the second subset of the telematics datacomprises telematics data collected over the second length of time. 6.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining thefirst and the second driving behavior includes determining one or morevalues of the first and the second subsets of the telematics datarespectively.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereindetermining the first and the second driving behavior comprisesdetermining a weighted sum of one or more values of the first and thesecond subsets of the telematics data respectively.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second telematicsdata includes one or more of: on-board diagnostic information, datacaptured by on-board sensors, collision warning systems outputs,automated safety system outputs, or lane departure system outputs. 9.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first drivingbehavior is associated with one or more of: turning behavior, brakingbehavior, or accelerating behavior.
 10. The computer implemented methodof claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the one or moreprocessors and based on the first and the second driving behaviors, adriving score associated with the driver and corresponding to the periodof time, wherein the one or more penalties or incentives is caused to beapplied to the driver based at least in part on the driving score. 11.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, at the one or more processors and from an owner of thevehicle, one or more user preference values corresponding to the firstand the second driving behaviors; determining, by the one or moreprocessors, that the first driving behavior or the second drivingbehavior does not satisfy the one or more user preference values; andcausing, by the one or more processors, an electronic message to betransmitted to the owner, wherein the electronic message indicates thatthe one or more penalties or incentives have been applied to the accountof the driver.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining, by the one or more processors and based on thetelematics data, a time when the vehicle is stopped; and causing, by theone or more processors, an electronic message to be transmitted to adevice associated with the driver during the time when the vehicle isstopped, wherein the electronic message indicates that the one or morepenalties or incentives have been applied to the account of the driver.13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or morepenalties or incentives are caused to be applied in accordance withterms agreed upon between the driver of the vehicle and an owner of thevehicle.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining, by the one or more processors and based atleast in part on a total number of instances of the first drivingbehavior occurring during a length of time beginning with the firstlength of time and having a duration greater than the first length oftime, a composite driving metric; and determining, by the one or moreprocessors, one or more composite threshold values corresponding to thecomposite driving metric, wherein causing the one or more penalties orincentives to be applied to an account of the driver is further based oncomparison between values associated with the second driving behaviorand the composite threshold values.
 15. The computer-implemented methodof claim 14, wherein the composite driving metric comprises an averagenumber of instances of the first driving behavior during the length oftime.
 16. A system comprising: one or more processors; andnon-transitory computer-readable media storing first computer-executableinstructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causethe one or more processors to perform operations comprising:establishing a first communication link between one or more processorsand a mobile device disposed within a vehicle; receiving, via the firstcommunication link, first telematics data collected over a period oftime, wherein the first telematics data is indicative of operation ofthe vehicle by a driver during the period of time; establishing a secondcommunication link, separate from the first communication link, betweenthe one or more processors and a processor of the vehicle; receiving, atthe one or more processors and via the second communication link, secondtelematics data, captured by a sensor of a data collection device,separate from the mobile device and associated with the vehicle, duringthe period of time; determining, based on a first subset of the firsttelematics data and the second telematics data, a first driving behaviorof the driver, wherein the first driving behavior occurs during a firstlength of time; determining, based on a second subset of the firsttelematics data and the second telematics data, a second drivingbehavior of the driver, wherein the second driving behavior occursduring a second length of time, the second length of time being greaterthan the first length of time; determining first environmentalconditions existing while the first driving behavior was exhibited bythe driver; determining, based at least in part on the firstenvironmental conditions, one or more threshold values corresponding tothe first telematics data and the second telematics data; determining,based on a comparison between values associated with the first and thesecond driving behaviors, and the one or more threshold values, one ormore penalties or incentives; and causing the one or more penalties orincentives to be applied to an account of the driver.
 17. The system ofclaim 16, the operations further comprising: receiving an indicationthat the driver has agreed to terms for renting the vehicle from anowner of the vehicle, wherein the terms include potential application ofpenalties or incentives to the driver based on driving behavior; andcausing an electronic message to be transmitted to the driver, whereinthe electronic message indicates that the one or more penalties orincentives have been applied.
 18. The system of claim 16, whereindetermining the second driving behavior comprises: determining a totalnumber of instances of the first driving behavior occurring during thesecond length of time; and determining, based on the total number ofinstances of the first driving behavior, an average number of instancesof the first driving behavior during the second length of time.
 19. Atangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructionsthat, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to: establish a first communication link between one or moreprocessors and a mobile device disposed within a vehicle; receive anindication that a driver has agreed to terms for renting a vehicle froman owner of the vehicle, wherein the terms include potential applicationof penalties or incentives to the driver based on driving behavior;receive, via the first communication link, first telematics datacollected over a period of time, wherein the first telematics data isindicative of operation of a rented vehicle by a driver during theperiod of time; establish a second communication link, separate from thefirst communication link, between the one or more processors and aprocessor of the vehicle; receive, via the second communication link,second telematics data, captured by a sensor of a data collectiondevice, separate from the mobile device and associated with the vehicle,during the period of time; determine, based on a first subset of thefirst telematics data and the second telematics data, a first drivingbehavior of the driver, wherein the first driving behavior occurs duringa first length of time; determine, based on a second subset of the firsttelematics data and the second telematics data, a second drivingbehavior of the driver, wherein the second driving behavior occursduring a second length of time greater than the first length of time;determine first environmental conditions existing while the firstdriving behavior was exhibited by the driver; determine, based at leastin part on the first environmental conditions, one or more thresholdvalues corresponding to the first telematics data and the secondtelematics data; and cause, based on a comparison between valuesassociated with the first and the second driving behaviors, and the oneor more threshold values, one or more penalties or incentives to beapplied to an account of the driver.
 20. The tangible, non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein determining the firstdriving behavior comprises identifying values in the first subset of thetelematics data associated with one or more of acceleration, speed, orlateral force.